RIP: Chokers Are Officially Dead

It's been a long time in the making, but it comes with great despair to report that the beloved choker trend of 2016 is officially dead. We should've seen it coming when every girl wore a black choker to Coachella last spring. Or when the teens began desperately using Nike shoelaces, ribbon and any scrap of material available to DIY the look. Or even earlier this week when ASOS began selling velvet chokers for men. But alas, it was Matt Lauer who put the final nail in the coffin when he wore a black choker on the Today show this morning.

Let us not forget all the incredible fashion moments and joy the choker brought us in 2016—a dismal year when the look of choking oneself in the name of #fashun seemed appropriate at times. But when you find yourself in a suburban New Jersey town surrounded by everyone and their mother (literally) wearing the same black choker, you know it's time to let go, as painful as it may be. And as the old saying goes, "It's not over until Matt Lauer wears it."

Below, in memoriam, take a look back at some of the choker's most celebrated moments of 2016.

When we weren't sure if the models at Alexander Wang were wearing chokers or actual dog collars but it didn't matter because it was FASHUN and it was great:

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Alexander Wang Fall 2016.

Getty Images

When Kim Kardashian West used her Vivienne Westwood choker to share a subtle message:

AKM-GSI

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The heroic college student who used a Nike shoelace as a choker:

this choker trend is wild y'all i wore a shoelace to the bars last night & i've never gotten so many compliments thanks @Nike just do it lol pic.twitter.com/K49fJmAXNe

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